My journey into the Orthodox faith, one day at a time, one moment at a time. Updated faithfully.

Sparks Along The Path

4 Jul 2024

Mat 7:12-23 (Murdock)

“Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you; so also do ye to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Enter ye in by the strait gate; for wide is the gate and broad the way which leadeth to destruction; and many are they that walk in it. How small the gate and straitened the way that leadeth to life, and few they who find it! Beware of false prophets; who come to you in the garb of sheep, but internally they are rapacious wolves. And from their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes; or figs from thistles? So every good tree beareth good fruits; but a bad tree beareth bad fruits. A good tree cannot bear bad fruits; nor can a bad tree bear good fruits. Every tree that beareth not good fruits, is cut down and consigned to the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them. Not whoever may say to me, My Lord, my Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, My Lord, my Lord, have-we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name cast out demons? and in thy name wrought many works of power? And then will I declare to them; I never knew you. Depart from me, ye doers of evil...”

Other Sparks Along The Path

2 Jan 2024

Thomas A` Kempis

Spark Quote

From Thomas a Kempis’ ‘The Imitation of Christ

"You have come to serve, not to rule. You must understand, too, that you have been called to suffer and to work, not to idle and gossip away your time. Here men are tried as gold in a furnace. Here no man can remain unless he desires with all his heart to humble himself before God."

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"If men used as much care in uprooting vices and implanting virtues as they do in discussing problems, there would not be so much evil and scandal in the world, or such laxity in religious organizations. On the day of judgment, surely, we shall not be asked what we have read but what we have done; not how well we have spoken but how well we have lived."

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"He is truly great who has great charity. He is truly great who is little in his own eyes and makes nothing of the highest honor. He is truly wise who looks upon all earthly things as folly that he may gain Christ. He who does God’s will and renounces his own is truly very learned."

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"Above all, we must be especially alert against the beginnings of temptation, for the enemy is more easily conquered if he is refused admittance to the mind and is met beyond the threshold when he knocks."

Music Along The Path

1 Jan 2024

ZAMN

Orthodox chant☦️ SoundClound Playlist by ZAMN

https://on.soundcloud.com/V6gKD

About and Contact

Why the Ecumenical Spark?

Hello everyone, my name is Jeff. You might know me as Protestant of almost forty years, but today, I want to introduce myself as someone new: a Ecumenical Christian seeker. For me, It's still very fresh, like newly baked bread, fragrant with possibility.

Truth be told, I stumbled into Ecumenicism more than I walked. I was searching for something deeper, something beyond the closed box of everyday life. A whisper of beauty kept pulling me towards the diverse Church's saints, their holy lives shining a different kind of light. The liturgies, felt like stepping into a whispered conversation between heaven and earth.

But most of all, it was the common theology that demonstrated that repentance and suffering leads to holiness (that I still barely understand), yet one thing I do believe; the "called out ones" claim to have preserved this true understanding from the very beginning.

There's so much to learn, of course. Saints with names I can barely pronounce, prayers in languages I fumble through. There's a sense of entering something very old, very true and very unchanging, a woven tapestry of generations linked by stories of Jesus, who loved the world enough to bring about the death of Death and set us, the captives free.

I don't have hardly any answers, and sometimes, the theology feels like a dense forest at dusk. But there's a glimmer of something, a crack in my blindness letting in a light I haven't seen before. So, here I am, a fledgling traveler on this both ancient and contemporary path, excited and terrified in equal measure. Wish me luck, friends, and feel free to point me towards good theology when I get lost. This is just the beginning, I know. But for now, it feels like coming home.

The Narrow Path of Repentance and Suffering

"True Christianity" by Johann Arndt

8 Sep 2024

The Venerable Johann Arndt

A Treatise On Sincere Repentance, True Faith, The Holy Walk of the True Christian, Etc.

"Arndt's fame rests on his writings. These were mainly of a mystical and devotional kind, and were inspired by St Bernard, Johannes Tauler and Thomas à Kempis.

His principal work, Wahres Christentum (book 1: 1605; books 1-4: 1606–1610) i.e. "True Christianity", which has been translated into most European languages, has served as the foundation of many books of devotion, both Roman Catholic and Protestant.

Arndt here dwells upon the mystical union between the believer and Christ, and endeavours, by drawing attention to Christ's life in His people, to correct the purely forensic side of the reformation theology, which paid almost exclusive attention to Christ's death for His people."

https://ccel.org/ccel/arndt/true/true.i.html

Photo by

Rod Long

Jacob Bentzinger